kindergarten fun facts: week 8

(^^ A few home improvement projects have been underway. More details later.)

Spanish has hit an all time high this week and she's really getting the hang of it. Constantly practicing at home (luckily I took some Spanish in high school and can verify some things, haha), and consistently asking us if she wants to know the new words she's learned.

Counting is what she has been working on the most but sometimes she goes WAY TOO FAST and flubs it all up.

Kennedy: "Do you want to hear me count in Spanish?"

Me: "I sure do!"

K: "Uno, dos, siete, ocho, nueve."

Three, four, five, six and ten get cut from the mix almost every time. It's a work in progress but it's amazing to me! I know when I was five the only language I could speak was English.



Come on, vamanos. Everybody let's go!
Leia

wedding bells on carolina beach

Shortly after her bachelorette weekend in Chicago, my sweet cousin asked me to be in her wedding. Let me tell you.. I was so nervous that I could have puked I was when I realized the turn around time for getting my dress ordered and altered was barely three weeks. When I talked to Amanda on the phone she calmed me right down and assured me everything would be just fine and work out perfectly. Yeah, I know! The bride was less nervous than me! But hey, one of the many reasons that make her great!

But to really show you the time line:

October 5: ordered dress

October 13: my dress came in and put in for alterations

October 20: my dress is ready to be picked up

October 21: we hit the road for the wedding

YAH. Major stress sweating going on.

Well, fast forward through our road trip and Kennedy's birthday to wedding day!

The weather: perfect.

The bride: beautiful.

The dress: amazing.

The aisle: jealousy seeping in.

The ceremony: tear jerking.

The reception: fried chicken left a grease stain on my dress.

Getting ready with everyone was so fun (though everyone was probably annoyed they had to take care of my hair and makeup since I am totally untrained). Mainly we were trying to patiently await the moment we got to see Amanda all dolled up and beauteous in her dress.

 And now for the dress reveal.

JUST. GORGEOUS.

And then the ceremony followed. Small and intimate and I don't think there was a dry eye in the house on the beach. It was everything you would imagine a beach wedding to be. Since I was part of the happenings I didn't document a ton and I am SO excited to see her photos when she gets them back.

Vroom, vroom off to the reception. These two did it right. Southern fixings on the buffet and casual proceedings for the rest of the night.

^^ Mandatory basic pic.

 ^^ Just look at them!

The moment I just absolutely lost it was during the father/daughter, mother/son dances. In 2011 Amanda's dad passed away suddenly, so for the wedding, his shoes were being filled by her older brother Mark. The ceremony was OK because I at least had the rehearsal to get some of the chills away. But the dance, my heart was aching. Definitely one of the main reasons I hustled ass to get everything together when she asked me. Family. 

Cheers to Mr & Mrs Smith!

Leia

sisters + the atlantic - day two: a photo series

The morning of Kennedy's birthday we were just waking up in Carolina Beach and she requested a trip to the ocean. Being early in the morning the temperature wasn't even 70° yet, but what does Kennedy want? Her swimsuit on. I tried talking her out of it but since it was her birthday I let her do as she pleased. I had her put overalls on top and we headed out. I didn't bother with Piper's swimsuit because I thought there was NO WAY these chicks were gonna get wet! Especially after Hurricane Matthew I assumed the water was going to be like ice.

Well, lo and behold Kennedy immediately stripped off her overalls. I had to plead with her to leave her shirt on for a little while, but shortly after we hit the shoreline that was stripped off as well and she was playing happily in the water. The water was warmer than I imagined it would be but it was definitely not a temperature I would associate a desire to swim with.

^^ Glad I checked my camera after the first few pics..

Piper was definitely hesitant at first and she had a horrible case of vertigo. Her body swayed with the tide coming in and out and one particular medium sized wave knocked her right into the water. After the initial shock she realized it was where she was meant to be and she wasn't going anywhere. Yeap, fully clothed because I thought I was being smart.

Oh and like a bad planner I didn't bring a full sized towel because yet again, I didn't think anything but our feet would get wet! Needless to say it was a cold and windy speed walk back to the condo filled with wonderful weedy barbs to the feet in the rush to not put any shoes/socks on. Luckily I got the brunt of it all and Ken was only poked once.

Then it was time for me to head off to the rehearsal dinner for a few hours and then to celebrate a birthday dinner with my eldest. She requested shrimp and macaroni and cheese. You better believe we made those dreams comes true!



Thar she blows!
Leia

sisters + the atlantic - day one: a photo series

Last weekend the girls, my mom and I hopped in a rental car to North Carolina. Initially to attend a wedding and then to be in a wedding! 

After a very long and tiring car ride (which the girls just did FABULOUS on - no sarcasm) we arrived to our Air BNB and hit the beach.

^^ Girl, I get it.

It was chilly and windy and the sun was just starting to set. We explored for a little while and headed back when the sky turned dark and sketchy.

^^ Uh, sand? WTF is this?

 We headed back to the condo to unpack and have some dinner and we called it a night. My mom and I were going on a 36-48 hour day with little to no sleep in an attempt to keep the girls on a solid schedule. I'd say it was worth it.



 Yay, vaca!
Leia

kennedy grace turns five

The girl that made me a momma turns five. It surely has been a crazy road with this one. From the first newborn moments to the sarcastic statements that make me want to rip my hair out I would change almost nothing about the road thus far.

She's sassy and smart, hilarious, outgoing (for the most part), a scholar, a reader and an artist. She's mean a bitter, too but luckily that's just a tiny piece that makes up the wonderful kid she is. Being a big sister is very important to her and her lil' sister is the light of her life most of the time; always watching, always wanting to play and do things with her, always loving. It's amazing.

Her biggest feat this year has been early kindergarten. We've only had a few minor hiccups but she's excelling in all areas and I'm just so proud of her and who she is as a little human.

There are many more words and pictures I could share to commemorate this moment but hey, they are reserved for my sweet girl to hear herself.



Happy Birthday, Ken!
Leia

kindergarten fun facts: week 7

Did you learn anything cool in school this week?

Kennedy: "Yeah, but I just really want you to let me buy hot lunch."

I'm really not sure what the draw is for hot lunch at the cafeteria. A lot of kids in her class must get lunch at school and she wants to join in, or maybe it's because it's a new thing and she wants to try it out. And actually the school's lunch menu doesn't seem horrible, so that's a plus.

So, I set her up to have some hot lunch every now and again. Day one was nachos.

Too cool for school.

Leia

horse party for kennedy

^^ Cowboy boots from granny to fit the theme!

Another party in the books. Another party that I failed at the theme! Oh well it was still a great time. Our gatherings have been getting smaller and smaller with each invitation that gets sent out and I'm totally fine with it; especially seeing as the next coming years will mean having birthday parties with her class. The thought truly terrifies me. Having her BFF over for the day was enough for me!

This time around Kennedy requested a 'horse party'. So the first thing on my agenda was to find an invitation and I ended up with these.

Next up was getting the cake and menu decided (this is where I do really well I think).

• taco salad
• baked beans
• pasta salad
• hot doggies
• hay bales (rice krispies)
• horse snacks (apples, carrots, celery)

Yeah, again, I didn't get a picture before digging in. On party days I'm usually running around like crazy because with having two gremlins dwelling in the house it's impossible for me to attempt setting up any sooner for fear of destruction.

Decorations are where I falter. I got grassy table coverings and coordinating inflatable balloons. Next year I think I will start doing games and party favors. Typically I feel like a good meal and desert are appropriate forms of 'payment' but with the amount of regulars being on the small side, these things would be manageable.

But as usual, Kennedy had a wonderful time socializing with everyone, opening her gifts, blowing out the candles and of course begging to open all her new things before she was even done unwrapping everything.

 ^^ AWWWW, FRIENDS.

  ^^ Haha, when Kennedy blew out her candles sprinkles went absolutely everywhere.

Also I would like to pat myself on the back for successfully pulling off a naked cake and earning back some street credit with my cake failure from Piper's party. It's safe to say that everyone agreed because all the cake got eaten! I was ecstatic! Cookie cutters make great stencils for decorating.

 When things were finally winding down I let her open some of her things and she immediately began creating a masterpiece with her requested art gifts and Piper thought it fitting to wrangle a helium filled horse.

Yee-haw!
Leia